This blog is written by a journalist based in Mumbai who writes about cities, the environment, developmental issues, the media, women and many other subjects.The title 'ulti khopdi' is a Hindi phrase referring to someone who likes to look at things from the other side.

Monday, December 08, 2008

The sounds of gunfire and grenades have died down. The dusthas settled. The shards of broken glass and plaster arebeing cleared. The blood has been washed away. And the eeriesilence has given way once again to the reassuring urbanchaos that is Mumbai. But 10 days after the nightmare beganin Mumbai, one that seemed not to end, that extended forthree nights and two days, the scars are still raw, theimages still sharp and the questions still unanswered.

On Wednesday night, November 26, the gunmen struck. Theywere not masked. They were like young people we see on ourstreets. By Thursday morning, Mumbai was paralysed. Why?This is a huge city, sprawling way to the north of where theattack took place, in the southern tip of the city. Trainsand buses were unaffected. Yet, no one moved on that day.

Staying put

Two factors were principally responsible. One, the apparentrandomness of the attack. Images of armed gunmen sprayingbullets at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), a building asbeautiful as it is important for the city, and thereafterall the way down the street to the junction where anotherlandmark, the Metro cinema stands, forced people to stay offthe roads. Any of us could have been on the street when thegunmen opened fire. Any of us could have been walking aroundthe popular Colaba causeway, buying bags and scarves fromthe hawkers that line its pavements when the gunmen bargedinto Leopold Cafe and opened fire. Any one of uscould have been like the man who stepped out of his shop tofind out what the noise was about only to be shot by thegunmen as they made their way to their ultimate target, theTaj Mahal hotel.

The second reason was the non-stop television coverage. Theterror attack might have been far from our homes. Buttelevision brought to us its terrifying sights and sounds.And the faces of the gunmen. No one slept that night. Fewcould summon up the will power to just turn the televisionset off and wait until the next day. As a result, the citywas hooked onto this continuous horror show being played onall channels.

But the massacre in Mumbai also brought home to the peopleof this city a version of urban warfare they had never seen.The sight of commandos landing by helicopter on the roof ofNariman House, a little known Jewish centre in the crowdedheart of Colaba, was even more unreal. You only saw suchsights in Hollywood movies. Could this really be takingplace in one part of our city?

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My profile

Journalist, columnist, writer based in Mumbai. Author of "Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia's largest slum" (Penguin, 2000). Worked with The Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express and Himmat Weekly.
Other books include "Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues" edited with Ammu Joseph (published by Sage 1994/2006), "Terror Counter-Terror: Women Speak Out" edited with Ammu Joesph (published by Kali for Women, 2003) and "Missing: Half the Story, Journalism as if Gender Matters" (published by Zubaan, 2010).
Regular columns in The Hindu, Sunday Magazine and on The Hoot (www.thehoot.org).